


As the days keep turning into night

by SingMeALoveSong



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Skye learns to trust again, Slow Burn, Steve finds someone to watch his back, Steve is a cuddler
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-07
Updated: 2016-06-26
Packaged: 2018-05-05 11:12:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5373221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SingMeALoveSong/pseuds/SingMeALoveSong
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Steve Rogers askes Coulson for some help, he didn't expect it to come in the form on one Agent Skye. With her help, he's bound and determined to find Bucky. What he finds along the way is completely unexpected. Skye/Steve Rogers</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In which there is a meeting of sorts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SHIELD meets Avengers, deals are made, and Skye comes to live at the Tower

Steve glanced dubiously over at the young woman across the common room at Avenger’s Tower who was chatting animatedly with Darcy. He turned back to Coulson and crossed his arms, widening his stance into what Natasha called his “Disappointed America” pose. “When you said you would bring your star Hacker, I expected something like Stark, not a young woman who looks like a strong wind could blow her over.” Steve furrowed his brow and looked back at Agent Skye once again.

She was dressed in all black, a few weapons tucked here and there across her petite body, and was currently doubled over laughing at cat memes with Darcy. Upon meeting her, Steve was instantly struck by how young and beautiful she was. In his old body, he was certain he would have stammered and probably fainted from nerves just talking to her, as it was he still stuttered a bit during his clumsy introduction. When he finally got over tripping all over his tongue, he noticed the hollows of her cheeks and the dark marks under her eyes that belied the jovial and upbeat tone she brought to the room. She looked young, and scared. Steve seriously doubted she would be able to help him find Bucky, let alone do what Coulson said she could.

What little Coulson had said over the phone was vague, yet impressive: “Agent Skye is currently our Director of Communications and Intel, as well as one of our top active agents. She is also part of a team we liken to the previous Strike Team Delta, only for more otherworldly and supernatural missions. She was with me before the fall of SHIELD, and I trust her wholly. I would be willing to loan her to the Avengers to help you find your wayward friend. She’s been tasked with building and leading a new team, and a mission or two with you would do her good to see other leadership styles. This could benefit us both, Captain Rogers. Recent events have put a strain on her position with us, and a break away from base would be welcome for her.”

Despite what Coulson had said, the young lady looked exhausted and small, not anything like what he pictured the agent would be. Turning back to Coulson, he raised an eyebrow and waited for a response. Coulson’s lips twitched into an almost smile as the Director turned his gaze fondly to the agent in question. “She will undoubtedly astound you Captain, and do not let her catch you saying that. She packs quite the punch.”

Later, in an information-sharing meeting between the two present SHIELD members and the handful of Avengers who could make it, Steve silently agreed that he was glad she never heard those words out of his mouth. The agent had been through hell, had picked up what was left of her life, and made something meaningful with it. He was impressed. If Natasha’s smirk was anything to go by, he knew they were right to call in Coulson’s team. They were going to find Bucky with Agent Skye’s help. If anyone could do it, she could.

-o-

“Are you sure I can do this AC?” Skye looked at Coulson as discussion rang out during the meeting over the best way to lure Barnes out of hiding. The first part of the meeting had been rough, as she had to briefly explain how she joined SHIELD, the part she played in the fall of said organization, the part she played in it’s rebirth, as well as her newfound powers. There was a quick aside were she listed people who might want her dead that could jeopordize the mission, and of course Ward was brought up for good measure. She had sighed with relief when the assembled Avengers had taken it all in stride and only asked a few clarification questions.

“I think you can do anything you put your mind to and set your heart on,” Coulson replied and Skye smiled warmly at him.

“You are such a sap,” she teased. He had been a godsend after the events surrounding her mother and the unveiling of the InHuman race. She had been lost, is still a little lost, but he was giving her a purpose again. Fitz was being too kind when she needed a firm hand, Simmons was trying to erase what had happened to her instead of understanding it, Bobby and in turn Hunter could only see her association with Ward, May was AWOL, and Mack thought of her as an alien. Life at the base had not been good, and her inactivity and lack of direction was making it worse. Coulson just stayed Coulson, a solid rock when she felt like her world was turned upside down. He encouraged her to embrace her powers instead of fear them, and it was a work in progress.

When Coulson approached her with a liaison mission she accepted without even hearing the specifics. She figured she was going to be shipped off somewhere far away to do some hacking and maybe hone her powers in the wilderness. When she finally got the mission parameters, she was floored. She was going to work with the Avengers.

And here she was, standing in a room with Earth’s mightiest trying to find a man who needed their help. Skye had been hacking into Hydra and locating bases to dismantle for the last three months, with Mack’s reluctant help, they even destroyed a few of the abandoned bases she had unearthed. What was surprising were the other bases they came across, burnt to a husk and completely dismantled from the inside out. They were supposed to be active bases according to Skye’s hacks, and they later found a trend of burnt bases as they progressed through Skye’s intel.

It was starting to come together into a bigger picture with the Avenger’s help. Barnes was on a rampage destroying Hydra without any resources other than himself. Understandable after what they put him through. Captain Rogers was dead set on finding and helping his long-lost, once-dead friend and bringing him back to rehabilitate him, also understandable. Skye was pretty close to predicting what bases would be hit next by who she now knew was Barnes, and with this last bit of information from the Avengers, she was sure they could be up and running in a few weeks time.

As Dr. Banner, Agent Romanoff, Tony, and Captain Rogers argued back and forth, Skye shared a second smile with Coulson before diving into the conversation.

-o-

As they all filed out of the meeting room he saw Agent Skye give Coulson a brief hug in parting and share a few words. He turned to head towards the gym, wanting to work through the thoughts chasing circles in his head around Bucky with a punching bag. He needed to sort through the emotions warring within him; anger at all Hydra has done, hope of possibly finding Bucky, guilt at all that happened to his friend because he couldn’t save him, and logic telling him he shouldn’t get his hopes up too soon. As he was waiting for Jarvis to send an elevator, he heard Skye call out behind him.

“Captain Rogers, can I have a word before you go?” Skye said a bit breathlessly as she jogged the length of the hallway to meet him.

He nodded and turned to face her, “Sure ma’am, go ahead.”

“Oh-“ she blushed prettily, “Please call me Skye-if we’re going to be working together, I’d rather you call me that or every time you call me ‘ma’am’ I’ll be looking for my S.O. over my shoulder.” A wry smile spread across her lips.

“As long as you call me Steve,” the elevator dinged, and they both stepped in calling the floors they wanted out to Jarvis.

“I want to start the tracking algorithm and program the code to help find Mr. Barnes as soon as possible. I’ve already chatted with Tony and have his research thus far, plus the base of the program I built before I knew who I was chasing, but there are a few questions I have about Barnes that I think you could help me with. Do you have a few minutes this afternoon we could meet and go over what I have?” Skye shifted awkwardly. The man was ridiculously attractive up close, and she pondered what May’s reaction would be to the Captain’s impressive arms.

“I’m just headed to the gym now, but we can meet whenever, I have nothing pressing. The sooner you can get that up and running the better.” All thoughts of pounding a punching bag fled as the need to find Bucky surged to the forefront of his thoughts once again.

“Let me grab my stuff and meet you in computer lab, I’m setting up shop there for the time being.” With that she exited on the guest suite floor with a quick nod.

-o-

A pattern quickly formed for Skye with her days. She spent her morning alternatively training with Natasha or Clint depending who had a mission or who was in the Tower, and thoroughly getting her ass kicked either way.

Case in point, Natasha threw her over her shoulder to a painful landing on the maps, boobs down and all breath knocked out of her for the third time in as many days. A bunch of wheezing later, she finally found the energy to roll over and look at her teacher, who was looking at her all calm and collected as if they hadn’t been sparing for the last two hours.

“You’re telegraphing your moves,” Natasha said as she bent over sky to look down at her, “but May has done a good job training you. Most would have broken a bone by now.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Skye wheezed and stood for more punishment from the Black Widow.

After training and until the late afternoon she would be found in the computer lab, checking her program, decoding data, and attempting to modify the search algorithm and “Bucky Bashing Predictor” as Clint dubbed it. Steve was often found hovering as she worked and she enjoyed the stories he told her as they waited for more data to come in. A quick friendship was born between the two, and conversation flowed naturally between the two.

He found her once, late at night when a nightmare of Ward chased her from her bed and set her to pounding on a punching bag, attempting to erase his face from her memory. Instead of asking questions, he gently corrected her stance, or offered up advice on following through. When she was sufficiently worn out, he helped her back to her room and tucked her in. The next day when he found her in the lab, he never asked for an explanation. She thanked him regardless, and he responded that every now and again we all need to work through something. The best he could do was be there for her when she ran herself dry. She laughed at that, and they continued their usual easy conversation. She noticed his own haggard appearance as the days drew longer with hit from the program searching for Bucky, and she promised to herself to be there for him as well when he ran himself dry.

Late afternoons she spent either with Tony or Bruce, working on controlling her powers. She was astonished when Bruce approached her and offered to help her tame her vibrations into something more than uncontrolled blasts. When Tony learned, he joined into the fray. She could now sense vibrations around her, like how Tony’s heartbeat would pickup around his lady love Pepper. She could “shake apart” or dismantle guns from up to 20 yards away, and they were working on her stopping bullets. The session normally ended with her and Bruce doing Tai Chi while Tony muttered in the corner tinkering with Simmon’s gauntlets in an attempt to not suppress but enhance her powers.

All in all it was leaps and yards better than the SHIELD base. She missed her friends, her family dearly, but they weren’t ready to accept her change and neither was she. She wanted everything to be as it was, but she knew it couldn’t be. This break was doing her good, she could see her value beyond her change and was rebuilding her confidence. Things would change, but it didn’t mean it all had to be bad.

She and Darcy even convinced everyone out of the Tower for a night on the town incognito. Her main goal of that night was to get Steve out and away from his single-minded mission to find Bucky. While he had not reached levels of unhealthy obsession, he was getting close and was probably not there by the grace of his serum-enhanced biology. The night out was meant as a mental break, and the slowly increasing smiles on his face made it worth it. The karaoke bar they hit was a blast, and the pictures of Clint in a purple boa singing on stage appeared on the common room fridge the day after.

Three weeks of this semi-normal routine in, her program finally got a hit. A traffic cam had picked up Bucky. Her prediction algorithm computed the various paths he could take for the known bases in the area. They had a direction, an idea.

She picked up her phone and dialed a number. “Steve, come to the lab. I found him. We’re gonna bring him home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank your for reading! I'm new at this fandom and it's been a while (a very long long LONG while) sine I wrote anything. 
> 
> But I literally can't get enough of these two together, and want to contribute to the small amount of fics out there with this pairing to help it grow! 
> 
> I was tempted to do a series of one shots, but If you are anything like me, the slow burn gets my feels all kinds of worked up. Hope you enjoy my sad attempts at writing!


	2. In which there is a fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky appears without appearing, Skye has some short flying lessons, and Steve about has a hear attach. Enjoy!

Last time:   
She picked up her phone and dialed a number. “Steve, come to the lab. I found him. We’re gonna bring him home.”

-o-

Except bringing him home wasn’t as easy as she had promised. She and Steve were off that night, Natasha sitting this one out as she could be recognized as a hostile instead of a friendly. They set up camp near the base that her program had determined would be the most likely to be hit. Tony had sent a “sentinel” suit, void of a body but with Jarvis’ mainframe monitoring and sending information back to the Tower, to each of the other two locations in case Bucky chose a different path. They could even probably reach the other locations by quinjet before he left the base burning. 

They had been staking out the base for two days, avoiding patrols and taking turns watching the most viable entrances. At dawn on the third day, two hours after Steve took over Skye’s watch, the base erupted in activity. Steve pondered how in the hell Bucky slipped past his or Skye’s notice as he woke her up and started for the base.

In the ten minutes it took him to run to the base from their stakeout position, the damage had already been done and only carnage remained. The entire base was roaring with flames. The three entry points that they could have forced open where completely unsurpassable with towering flames. Skye arrived panting a few minutes later and immediately starting looking for any signs the Soldier could have left. A thorough search of the premises revealed nothing but dead Hyrda agents. Cursing again, Steve threw his shield down on the ground and let his shoulders slump.

Carefully Skye approached him and put a hand on his shoulder, “I have an idea.” He glanced down at her, unable to respond. He had missed his chance, didn’t she see? With a quick “Trust me,” she dropped her hand and took off towards the building. She couldn’t bear to see his disappointment, she was familiar with that look and feeling growing up in the system She’d be damned if she would let such a nice and decent man experience any more grief in his life. Before he could stop her, she used a jolt of her powers to clear a space in the flames and jumped into the burning base.

Steve felt his stomach drop. 

-o- 

Skye quickly found a safe place to stop once inside the building. She calmed her breathing and focused on her powers. A hand against a beam was all she needed to feel along the support system of the base. With all the vibrations emanating from the burning building, she equally had a lot to work with and a lot to filter out in her search for any living occupants. As she worked through the rooms, she couldn’t feel any heartbeats and only felt the stretching and groaning of burning support beams. She didn’t bother trying to find the computer servers, past experience in finding what remained after Bucky left a base told her they would already be destroyed. 

Skye came back to herself and gauged her escape routes. From her exploration of the building through her powers, she knew the way she came in was too weak to chance, but a window around the corner of this hallway would probably work just fine. She faintly heard Steve bellowing from outside, preparing to charge in. She sent a quick pulse of power towards the entrance she came in to prevent him from following her and set out towards the office space with her window exit. 

-o-

Steve was going to give her five minutes, maybe, to do whatever harebrained idea she had. He knew she had skills, was a competent agent, and had her powers to help her. He trusted her to have his back on this mission. Despite all this, he couldn’t calm his heart from stuttering in anxiety and was only barely restraining his urge to charge after her. He yelled a warning, not that she could probably hear it. Just as he was preparing to tear through the entrance she went into, it collapsed. 

Any calm he had before was now lost. He trusted her, yes, but as much as he wanted to be sure Bucky wasn’t in there, he didn’t want to lose her. Weighing his options, he started around the side of the base to the second entrance. As he rounded the corner a crash came from the window above him and Skye came tumbling out, part of her TAC uniform smoking. All knees and elbows, she collided with his shocked form in her graceless dive from the building.

The momentum of her fall rolled them a few yards from the building, and once they came to a stop, Steve quickly shoved her weak attempt to get up back down as he rolled over her.

“Don’t you ever do that again,” he breathed into her shoulder as his forehead rested on her collarbone. 

“Says the man who jumps out of airplanes without parachutes,” she wheezed back at him huskily, coughing from the smoke she must have inhaled. 

He couldn’t help the laugh that escaped his mouth; she was ridiculous. This woman was a godsend sometimes. He lifted his head from where it rested and pulled himself off her prone form. Still leaning over her, he took him her person, assessing any injuries she may have sustained. A hand on his cheek stopped his perusal (singed fabric on her left shoulder, knees scraped and bloodied through her pants, a slight hitch he could hear in her breathing pattern) and his eyes met hers. What he saw there made him pause, the compassion overwhelming him. “We’ll find him,” she whispered. “He got the jump on us this time, but we’ll keep going, keep searching, we’re gonna bring him home, Steve.”

Her words calmed something in him, reassuring him despite the disappointment of the day. He brought his hand to hers on his face, and simply said, “I know. I won’t stop until I do.” 

She let a small lopsided grin grace her face, “We won’t, Steve. I’ll help you. We’ll keep looking until we find him.” She moved to retract her hand and shift to get up. Without thinking, he gripped her hand before it could fully leave his face, enjoying the last few seconds of her calming touch, before helping her to stand with that same hand. With a gentle squeeze he let her go to steady her with hands on her shoulders as she finally fully stood on swaying legs after her fall. Once she had her balance, he let go.

They silently trudged back to their stakeout base.

-o-

After they gathered their things and cleaned up their camp, Steve asked Stark to bring him his bike on the incoming quinjet.

“I think we’re going about this the wrong way,” he said as they waited for the quinjet to arrive. “Bucky is too smart to let us know he is coming. He was a sniper before he was captured, I’m sure he spotted us and changed his tactics accordingly.”

Skye nodded, “What do you think we should do then. I need some time to tweak the program, but I’m pretty sure I’ll have the next base for us if you give me a day.”

“He’s starting to remember, he’s going to be drawn to people moreso than the soldier was. We haven’t factored in the towns surround the bases. He needs supplies, what he can’t get from the bases.”

Skye, catching on, started to grin, “We wasted close to three days staking out the base when he was probably trying to figure out the world he is now immersed in at that town four miles West of here.”

“Like I said, he’s smart. He’s gonna try to figure out how to fit in as he burns through Hydra. Part of the conditioning in him is to learn to assimilate, and Bucky was always a social guy. If the two personalities are meshing, our best bet is to stake out the surrounding communities the next time around.” Steve lifted his head as the quinjet circled high above. 

-o-

Once the jet had arrived, the lowering ramp revealed Barton smirking beside a vintage black motorcycle. “Delivery for a fossil,” Clint smirked as he took in the soot-covered pair. “I hear the first foray wasn’t a complete success.”

“Both SHIELD and Stark have few resources to spare, Clint,” Skye snarked back, “The fact we came this close is impressive.” With that she leaned in for a quick hug. 

“I love you Skye, but you smell like a bonfire,” Clint said as he extracted himself from her grip, “You need a shower ASAP, do I even want to know?”

Two quick “No’s” rang out and he smirked again. “Get to having too much fun by the campfire? Just remember, no glove-no love.” Clint’s smirk turned into a full on grin as Steve’s face blossomed into a lovely shade of red, his ear’s turning an almost violent shade of red he hadn’t seen before as he ducked to start taking the straps off that secured the Captain’s bike. A quick glance at Skye revealed her glaring at him but a faint blush growing as well. A full-bellied laugh escaped his body at the reactions he garnered from his friends. 

Steve and Skye shared a long-suffering look between them as Steve finally got his bike free and Skye located the supplies they needed. Steve turned to Clint, and Skye came to stand beside him.

“Clint,” the man in question turned from his pre-flight checks, “We’re going off the grid. We’re going to be out here tracking Barnes as long as it takes.” Clint furrowed his brow and the two standing by the bike.

Sky shifted and set a bag down by Clint, “We need to be untraceable, unnoticeable, and unknown. If we need anything, we’ll contact you. We know the safety codes and phrases. The bag I’m giving you has a few things we grabbed from the Hydra base before it burned to a crisp. If we find anything else, we’ll arrange a drop. Until then we will be radio silent. Bucky is smart, but we have a plan. We’re going to find him, it’s just gotta be off the books.” As Skye finished her explanation, she handed Clint a piece of paper she’d torn from Steve’s notebook he kept at all times. Steve’s chicken scrawl on the back outlined a list of music artists he needed to catch up on.

On the other side were two numbers. “If you need to contact us, use these numbers. I’ve already destroyed our phones that could be used to track us. If Steve is needed, do not hesitate to call. We’ll come back. But only call if it is really needed. You know the drill, Clint.”

Clint took the paper and glanced between the two, “Best of luck, friends.” The two turned to exit the craft. Clint called out one final remark, “And Steve!” the man in question turned, “I know you’ll do it. You made a promise, and you keep your promises.”

-o- 

Skye and Steve watched Clint take off from the small clearing they were in.

“Well soldier,” Skye says as she turned to him, “How are we both supposed to fit on this bike of yours?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is short, but I wanted to get something out since I had such a quick plea for more! 
> 
> I'm writing this as I go. I have a general idea of what I want to have happen, but I'm flying by the seat of my pants. It's gonna be a slow burn guys. They may be attracted to each other, but for it to grow into something more, there will be much buuurrrnning!! 
> 
> Still looking for a beta if anyone is interested! I am terrible at spelling and grammar, and I have no excuse for it.


	3. In which some changes occur

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life on the run

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the overwhelmingly warm responses and comments! You guys make my day! 
> 
> I'll probably continue updating once a week or so when inspiration hits me. 
> 
> If you want to see something particular happen while these two adventure across the country in search of Bucky, let me know! I'll try and make it happen =]

“Well soldier,” Skye says as she turned to him, “How are we both supposed to fit on this bike of yours?”

-o-

As it turns out, they fit quite snugly on the bike. At first, Skye was hesitant about how close she was to Steve. The man was in no ways small, and the bike was average in size. This left little room for Skye to perch. They were friends, yes, but they weren’t exactly tactile friends. But as they made it out onto the highway from the back roads they were on, she slowly relaxed and sunk into his warmth. Seriously, the man radiated heat like a furnace. To her battle worn muscles and aches from the hydra base early that morning, his warmth was a balm. 

Steve also liked to drive like a madman, going way too fast (to her at least) around corners and weaving in and out of what little traffic they encountered. The first time he took a corner, she scrambled for purchase on his leather jacket he had taken out of a compartment from the bike.

Steve had chuckled at her frantic grasp, amused as she plastered herself to his back like a barnacle and let out an adorable “eep!” as she did so. Skye refused to acknowledge said sound, or his chuckle. The wind and the deep purr of the bike prevented any teasing, but Steve was sorely tempted despite that.

Late in the afternoon, they pulled over at a diner on the side of the road, Skye’s healing body and Steve’s growling stomach needed a rest and refueling break. They unconscientiously sat in a booth towards the back with a good view of the door from the kitchen, the front door, and the various weak points from the windowed front visage. Skye caught herself assessing all angles, and looked to see Steve doing the same. She couldn’t help the giggle that escaped her. Steve, quickly catching on, let a smirk shine through.

“So now that we’re off the grid without Tony’s tech, which is fantastic but could totally possibly be hacked or traced, you know we are going to have Hydra on our backs,” Skye said casually as she scanned the menu. “Not to mention any of the assorted other enemies and frenemies like the CIA/FBI tracking us?”

Steve looked up from his menu and sighed. “I know. And I know that my face is pretty recognizable, not to mention the factions of Hydra that know yours as well.” He smiled as the waitress came by and took their order. “We’ll have to be discrete, avoid big towns, and stay in places they wouldn’t expect us to stay. I have a handful of safe houses I established through back channels after the Triskellion incident that no one other than Natasha knows about. But we’ll have to probably spend most of our time sleeping on the road. I hate to drag you into this.”

Skye reached over the table and grabbed one of his hands. “Don’t worry about it, I have a couple of safe houses as well. We can only hope that our search brings us close enough to use one of them eventually.” She smiled gently at him and brought her hand back to her side of the table. “I’ve been living on the run in one form or another since I turned 17, I’ve got ten years of this under my belt, I think I can handle a couple more months of it.” 

They both quieted as the waitress came back by with their order. Steve had at least enough food to feed three people, or just one super hungry super soldier and Skye smiled at the sight of his gleeful decimation of plate after plate. It was a familiar sight she had seen in the last month at the Tower and the occasional restaurant. Some things never changed.

“I have a couple ideas on how to help us fly under the radar,” Skye said between bites. “Before we quit for the night, let’s stop by a pharmacy or convenience store so I can pick up a few things.”

-o-

They stopped at some mom and pop drug store four hours later, and two hours after that, they finally rolled into a motel somewhere just inside the Ohio state line. She sadly had no idea where they were, but trusted Steve and his various leads he had searched and collected in the last six months in his quest to find Bucky. They needed to figure out where Bucky was going next, yes, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t followup on some of the leads Steve and Sam had cultivated and warranted valuable.

The dingy two bed room wasn’t much, but after their day, seemed like heaven. Too tired to do much else, Skye promptly passed out on top of the covers as Steve parked the bike around back.

When Steve came back up, he noticed her quiet breathing and made effort to not make any noise as he brought their goodies from the drug store up. He gently took her boots off, and brought the other half of the bed’s covers up over her. She mumbled something but did not wake. She looked so young as she slept, and he was once again reminded how much she had been through. 

He couldn’t thank her enough for what she was doing, with her he had half a chance more to find Bucky. But it went deeper than just technical support. She had his back, and she was helping him work through the emotional turmoil all this brought. She always had a logical response for his spiraling thoughts, or a quick quip to brighten whatever dark mood had taken over him. Smoothing the covers over her once more, he turned to his bed for whatever sleep he could get.

-o-

Morning found him waking to Skye’s mumbling again. “Rogers, why the hell did you let me sleep on this comforter?! Who the hell knows what’s on this thing!”

Blinking awake, he saw her sitting up with a look of disgust on her face. He couldn’t help but chuckle at her reaction. “Oh yeah, laugh it off Mr. Serum! My ass isn’t immune to STD’s that are surely all over this stupid cover. Seriously!”

With that she was off to shower with the supplies she bought yesterday. They traded turns in the small bathroom, and when he was out, he found her attempting to clean a burn from yesterday on her shoulder with one hand. 

“Here, let me help,” with that, a routine was established between the two of them from that day on. Skye got first shower (do not get between Skye and what little hot water they got), be it day or night. And they would patch each other up after whatever tumble had occurred. Not that Steve needed much patching, but sometimes the sympathy and care Skye bestowed him meant more than any bandaid.

When they had wifi, Skye was searching. She had updated her program once again with any tidbits she learned of Bucky’s behavior. But when he saw them at the last base, it must have spooked him. A week had gone by without a hit on the program. So they continued to chase down leads Steve had found earlier. 

-o-

On the eleventh day off the grid, Hydra caught up with them. It was an accident of sorts. Skye had said there was Hydra activity in the area from her previous research and what hacking she had done on the run. They were a small town south of Chicago, and Steve had just ran inside a gas station to grab a couple supplies. As he was in there, a group of men had pulled up in a tactical vehicle that immediate set Skye’s spy senses tingling. Her quick search of the plate numbers revealed some fishy half-assed forgeries. 

Steve chose that exact time to exit the station as the men had turned to go in. A man in the front of the group immediately stopped upon catching sight of Steve, who admittedly had a hat on but had flipped it around when he went inside (Skye mentally screamed at him for that). The lead man’s abrupt halt raised questions in the group, and that brought Steve’s attention from balancing his plethora of snacks to his immediate “fight mode” as Skye liked to call it. The resulting four hours of random fights, running, chasing, running again, and finally an all out brawl in an abandoned house ended with the group of men bundled for Tony or Nat to pick up in a few hours. 

As they exited the house, Steve turned to Skye. “I’m really sad I didn’t get to eat those powdered donuts. They couldn’t have waited, like, ten minutes before recognizing me, could they?”

The look of incredulity that crossed Skye’s face was worth the shit she gave him later.

-o-

At another (shitty) motel two hours west of there, Skye cornered Steve in the bathroom as he was shaving. The fact that she was invading his space was not new. Living with someone as they had, you learned to ignore personal boundaries for the most part after the first time you catch the other partially undressed or in an awkward situation (for the record, Sky had seen him barely dressed far more times than Steve had seen her, darn the luck).

What was odd was the sack hanging from her hand. “Steve, we gotta try something other than hats. It isn’t working so hot for us.” The bruise on her check from the fight earlier attested to that fact.

“What are you proposing, doll?” He said as he tilted his chin up to shave a tricky bit around his jaw. “Wigs?”

“Not quite....” at her vague response, he took a look at what was in that bag – hair dye, scissors, paintbrushes, and a jar of henna ink.

“Do I want to know?” he asked as he rinsed his face and put his razor away.

“Well, a little change never hurt anyone and I figured we could put your art skills to use.”

Skye proceeded to sit him on the edge of the tub and dye his hair a warm brown color. She instructed him to grow his beard out, and that when they had downtime, he needed to stop doodling on hotel paper pads and start doodling on whatever skin he found inspiring on him or her that would be visible to passerby’s.

“They don’t expect Captain America to have tats, in fact we know that tattooing you only lasts a couple hours with the serum,” she explained as she pulled the foul smelling dye through his hair.” Henna is temporary yes, but doesn’t draw blood in the inking process so shouldn’t activate your super healing. They also only know you as the clean-cut guy from all your pictures.” The soothing rhythm of her hands over his hair and scalp was relaxing. “No more hair cuts, no more shaving. You’re beard grows freakishly fast and in a lovely semi-ginger hue anyway, I don’t know why you bother to shave all the time.”

The biggest change was when he waited for the dye to set in. She turned to the mirror as he sat on the edge of the tub. She put her hair in a low ponytail and reached for something else in her sack. Quick as can be, she pulled out a pair of scissors and started cutting her hair off at the elastic band that held it back. 

His mouth opened, and some sort of noise must have escaped in his shock. “It will grow back,” she said with a soft smile at him, her gaze catching his in the mirror. She shook her hair out of the elastic and continued to cut it until it framed her face, a little shorter in back and falling just above her collarbones in front. “I used to cut my own hair back at the orphanage,” she said as she worked. “They only had someone come in every couple of months and the cuts were horrendous. So I learned how to cut an even line, I would even cut some of the others’ hair too.” 

At this admission, she tucked her head down and focused on cleaning up any hair that had fallen on the counter and sweeping it into the trash. He could tell this admission had made her nervous, and left her feeling vulnerable. He stood from his stupefied crouch on the tub’s sill and grabbed her hands to still them. Gripping her hands in one of his big ones, he used the other to tilt her chin up. He took a long moment to assess her new look.

“Beautiful,” he said simply. She flushed prettily, and dropped her head again. Knowing not to push her, he stepped back to give her some space. “Will you cut my hair, whenever you deem it acceptable to do so again?” he asked teasingly.

This brought her usual spark back, “Of course handsome, now let’s get that dye out of your hair.”

-o-

From the top of an abandoned building half a mile away, the soldier watched the two interact through the scope of his rifle. He wasn’t ready to face the man from the helicarrier yet. It was hard piecing the remnants of his memories before the war and the ones he could recollect from his years on ice. Some days he felt good, others would be lost in the haze of the soldier’s instincts and training. But he knew this man. And when the time was right, he would go to him. Just not yet, not yet.


	4. In which the small moments in between occur

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A brief interlude into the moments between moments

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait. Holidays sucked the life out of me! This chapter came to me in pieces so I hope it flows. Thank you again for all the comments and kudos!

Last time:

From the top of an abandoned building half a mile away, the soldier watched the two interact through the scope of his rifle. He wasn’t ready to face the man from the helicarrier yet. It was hard piecing the remnants of his memories before the war and the ones he could recollect from his years on ice. Some days he felt good, others would be lost in the haze of the soldier’s instincts and training. But he knew this man. And when the time was right, he would go to him. Just not yet, not yet.

-O-

Living on the road isn’t something new to him. He’s never owned much to his name, back before to war to even now. Whatever SHIELD and the museum might tell you, he has really only has a few sketch books, a couple black and white photos, a beat up compass, an old family Bible Howard Stark managed to keep around for him, and his shield. 

Skye seems to be the same. She has her one bag. And while curiosity killed the cat, he’s peaked a few times. There are keys to a car he’s never seen, hula girl doll, two old SHIELD badges (Coulson’s and her’s), a beat up laptop, a Chinese charm, and a card for some veterinarian Dr. Winslow. He knows there are stories behind each of these, but he’s only heard snippets here and there. But there’s a subtle urge to know what each of these mean to her. He can’t quite explain it, and when she asks he calls it a “mystery” he can solve.

Maybe it’s because there isn’t much to do while waiting for hits on Bucky to come through, but these items burn in the back of his mind. What do they mean to this incredibly complex woman who is helping him?

She’s currently in the shower, no doubt taking all the hot water. She’s softly singing something, and the sound is soothing. That’s another thing he discovered about her. She can sing, and sound better than half the chorus girls he once knew. He likes it, the gentle sound filling up the ratty hole in the wall they have been staying at for the last two nights.

He commented on it once, a soft “That’s pretty, will you sing it for me?”

She had frozen and immediately in her small kitchenette chair, and stopped humming the song under her breath that had slipped out as she coded on her laptop. Her wide eyes locked on his from where he was laying on his stomach across the bed and flipping through a history book he had picked up in the last town.

“I’m sorry, didn’t realize I was even doing it,” she replied and shifted in her seat in an attempt to play off her earlier tenseness. He wasn’t buying it.

“I like it when you sing, you have a good voice. It’s pretty,” he closed his book, his finger marking his spot. “You know, they tried to get me to sing on the USO tour.” He glanced up at her and saw her eyes spark in interest. He had quickly found that sharing pieces of himself was the quickest way to get her to share pieces of herself as well. With how her trust had been broken in the past, he could understand her hesitancy. Equal sharing meant equal footing between them. He continued, “They quickly found out I couldn’t hold a tune in a bucket to save my life,” at this she giggled. “No really, no serum could solve that problem.”

Skye devolved into giggles at this. After a few, “I can’t even’s” and a couple “I wish I could have seen it’s” she finally calmed down. As she wiped the tears of mirth from her eyes, she finally settled down. “You know, one of the only things I truly enjoyed at the orphanage was choir sessions. Coming in and out of foster homes, I just wanted someone to want me, to appreciate me,” at this she bent her head a bit, her newly shorn hair falling to cover half of her face. “I found out I could sing rather well, and one of the priests gave me tutoring lessons to become even better. I felt so sure of myself when I was singing.” 

A small smile played across her face. Steve shifted again to set up, placing the book on the table by the bed. “Do you ever sing for anybody, then?”

Her head finally popped up at this, “Oh god no, that would be embarrassing!” A slight flush accentuated her cheeks. “No one wants to hear that, Captain.”

“Well I sure would, seeing as I can’t sing myself,” he shrugged. She studied him closely. With a small smile he continued, “My Ma would sing as she worked, reminds me of home.” Skye’s face softened at his omission. She glanced back at her computer and chewed her bottom lip in thought, a quirk she had and something that he found quite distracting lately. Well, admittedly, she was always distracting to him lately.

“Alright, Rogers. If I have the urge to hum or sing, I won’t hold back on your account.” She smiled at him and went back to her coding. He took at extra minute to take her in: short hair halo’d around her face, legs crossed up in her chair, and a little furrow starting on her brow as she contemplated her program. She was nothing like what he was used to, but he found himself feeling more comfortable with her than he had since he came out of the ice. What was terrifying was that he was craving more and more of that feeling as time passed on their quest for Bucky.

“I’ll enjoy it, doll.”

-O-

Skye caught Steve snooping in her bag once. It was an odd thing, to sneak up on the first Avenger. She cleared her throat, and Steve snapped up, her Hula doll clutched in one hand.

“Uh- I can explain!” The flush that had spread like wildfire up his chest and to his ears was quite adorable. 

“Oh really, Steve? Do explain.” The look of pure terror on his face made the channeling of her inner May all the more easier. She listened to his sputtering, and quite frankly poor attempts at lying that couldn’t even form a full sentence, let alone two words together that could make much sense. It was adorable, maybe even more adorable than the blush. Taking a peak at the color of his ears, she finally decided the Captain’s ability to blush on command (or inability to control it) was by far one of her favorite things.

Putting him out of his misery, she finally said, “You know you can just ask.” A normal person probably would have been offended by someone going through their personal belongings. But they lived in a different world of spies and Hydra, and people that could tell you they love you but be lying to your face. A healthy dose of suspicion and snoopy-ness could keep you alive.

“Uh, so um, Hula doll in, uh bag?” he finally strung together. Finally realizing he had a foothold in this conversation and he wouldn’t be blasted out of the room quite literally, he cleared his throat, “I mean, why do you have a Hula doll?”

So she told him. It wasn’t hard to share with him part of her life she hadn’t talked about, let alone thought about, in a long while. Sharing with him was like breathing. It was still difficult at times, but he was always so open and willing to share his personal demons as well. Heck, he knew things even Coulson or May didn’t know about her. 

What was even more scary was that she liked it. She liked sharing with him, and that he wanted to know about her. It was addicting. After what had happened with Ward, she never thought she could share this much with someone again, or even enjoy it. Knowledge someone had against you was power, and she had had enough of that for one lifetime. But Steve was Steve. Strip him of the Captain persona and the serum, and he was still Steve: a loyal man who cared, and did what was right for others, not just him.

Maybe that was why it was so easy. She’ll probably never know. But in his quest to find out more of her “mystery” as he liked to call it, she was discovering more about him as well. He adapted to the modern world better than he let on. He trolled Tony all the time, even in their short encrypted messages he managed to troll Tony. It was a gift. A gift she thoroughly enjoyed enabling.

He tried to pull the “aw’ shucks ma’am” spiel on her once, and only once. She had seen right through it. His baby blue eyes could probably get her to do just about anything, but she wasn’t going to fall for something that easy. She did, however, get a kick out of watching him use that routine on others. From local policeman, hotel clerks, to even a few Hydra agents they came across.

-O-

They were in another town, following a lead from Sam, when all Hell broke out, as it was want to do around Hydra. They had been in a couple skirmishes on their trip, but this one caught them by surprise. Only Skye’s quick thinking and powers saved them, but at a cost.

She was currently holding off twelve agents’ worth of bullets around them. They were cornered in an alleyway, and Skye had thrown out her arms at the last minute and stopped the rain of bullets coming their way. He didn’t know what to do. He could grab Skye and run, but he knew breaking her concentration would only cause the bullets to resume their path. There were too many for her to just redirect, and stopping them alone was causing blood to leak out of her nose and ears. 

He briefly considered attacking the gunman that were reloading, but walking through the maze of bullets would just result in the same scenario as the first option. They were backed into a corner, and it wasn’t looking good.

Suddenly, a series of sharp sniper shot cracks rang out. Steve immediately wrapped an arm around Skye and dropped them, bullets be damned. Close range Skye would be able to handle it, but long range sniper shots were not possible right now. 

Steve had worried for nothing. He lifted himself off of where he had covered Skye. She had managed to make the bullets drop where they had stopped in midair, but the surge of power had cost her consciousness. The sniper shots he had heard were not meant for them, but the Hydra agents that had cornered them. 

One thought burned in his mind....Bucky.

-O-

At another shady motel, Steve was cleaning a bullet graze Skye had acquired before she had stopped the rain of bullets. One of the things that endeared Steve to Skye was his ability to wholly focus on one problem. At this moment, it was thoroughly cleaning the four inch long track that ran just under her left breast and along her rib and side. 

While he had a serious face, Steve certainly wasn’t able to keep his blush at bay. It wasn’t his full on blush, but it was there, and Skye was reveling in it. Petty as it was, she liked knowing that showing this much skin to have him clean her wound affected him. Focusing back on Steve, she listened to what happened after she passed out.

When Steve told her Bucky had helped them, she was hesitant. The first thing that crossed her mind was whether it was the Winter Soldier or Bucky that had helped them or followed orders. She immediately hated herself for the thought, but she wanted to keep a level head in this game. Never-the-less, she took this information in stride and hoped it would mean that they would find him soon if he was sticking around to monitor them.

All these hopes were dashed with a single ring of a phone from deep within their bags. Steve’s hands froze from smoothing the bandage over her ribs (and damned if she swore she hadn’t felt a few fingertips graze the underside of the swell of her breast).

They comically looked at each other, to bed where their bags were resting, and back to each other. Steve straightened up, and Skye pulled her shirt back on. That ring only meant one thing, an Avenger was needed.

-O-

Leaving when they may have just stumbled upon Bucky killed Steve. He wanted to rage at the injustice of it all. Skye had offered to stay on the trail, but he couldn’t leave this mess solely on her shoulders. She could handle it just fine, but he couldn’t bare the thought of what could happen if she ran into Hydra without him to have her back. 

That thought was a shock to his system to add to the myriad of emotions floating around as it was. He considered her a true partner, something he hadn’t had since Bucky. End of the line and all, he didn’t like the idea of going out in the field without her at his back or her going out without him watching his.

They had driven the motorcycle to a remote location where Natasha was waiting for them in the Quinjet. The situation back in New York involved Doom and the Fantastic Four. If Tony hadn’t said he couldn’t handle it, Steve would have refused to come in. As it was, Doom had managed to capture and incapacitate the Fantastic Four and was wreaking havoc on the New York populace. 

The skeleton Avenger crew of Tony, Clint, and Sam could only do damage control at this point. The Scarlet Witch, Rhodey, and Thor were tied up in missions or off world, and the Hulk would only cause more damage, good intentions aside. They needed Steve badly. The fact they would get Skye’s help too was an added blessing.

Natasha quickly briefed them on the specifics, showed them where they could “suit up” and left them to it. Spotting the familiar colors of his uniform he slowly settled into the Captain persona. It had been nice to be “just Steve” around Skye the last couple weeks on the road.

A small noise of surprise caused Steve to look her way. She was stroking the black cat suit that Natasha had handed her. It looked like Tony and Bruce had been working on designing something special for her and her powers. The sleeves had reinforced braces that looked like they could channel her powers. 

He leaned against the wall next to her as she gently fingered the collar of the suit. She bit her lip in that adorable way she had and glanced up at him from the corner of her eyes. “When I first got my powers, my whole team either pretended nothing had happened, tried to reverse it, or tried to suppress them. I don’t blame them. I wanted it to go away too.” 

Her fingers traced the line of the shoulder down to the amplifying cuffs, “But I knew, the moment the change had occurred, I knew there was no changing it. Deep down I always knew there was no way to make it go back to how it was. That maybe this was what I was meant to be. I was angry,” at this she removed her hand from the suit and gripped it with her other hand. “Things on the team were strained; I wasn’t what they wanted me to be, and I couldn’t go back.”

“I don’t think anyone can really understand the changes we go through but ourselves,” he quietly commented. He knew his experience was no-where near hers, but he understood a few things about change. 

Crossing his arms, he continued, “You have this image of what you used to be in your mind warring with what you are now, on top of what everyone expects you to be.” He reached out with one hand and grabbed her hands from where they were tangled in a nervous knot. “One thing I’ve learned is to be yourself, as old-fashioned as it sounds. Know where you came from but know where you are going. If there’s something I know for certain about you Skye, you are going places and you have a good heart.” With this he squeezed her hands and pulled her into an embrace with a gentle tug.

Her arms snaked around him, and he felt a calm settle over him he hadn’t felt since before this last Hydra run-in. He breathed in the smell of her shampoo, and added a little extra squeeze to the embrace.

“As silly as it sounds, Tony and Bruce’s gesture to make something to augment and not suppress my gift makes me feel more at home and in my skin than I’ve felt in a long time.” With this admission she gave a slight giggle, “Just never let Tony know it, he won’t let me forget it if he finds out.”

He chuckled with her and reluctantly loosened his hold. He grabbed her shoulders and used his best ‘Captain’ voice. “Alright Agent, suit up. Comms up and running in ten minutes.”

If he took an extra minute or two to admire the way the new suit hugged her curves from the safety of the Quinjet, no one could blame him. 

And if Natasha caught his gaze, she surely wouldn’t rat him out for his blush.


	5. In which tough questions are asked

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye tries out her new bracers, Steve figures out work-life-balance, and Sam is a cheeky, cheeky friend.

Last time: Skye and Steve were hot on Bucky's heels, but a call to assemble brings our two wayward characters back to the real world to deal with Doom.

 

Ten minutes later, the quinjet was landing in a heavily forested area. While Doombots terrorized New York, Natasha had been able to figure out the Fantastic Four had been removed to one of Doom’s properties. She could see Tony and Sam flying around what she assumed was one of Doom’s mansions. Except this mansion had an extensive defensive wall, complete with artillery guns spaced evenly in what looked like a gross display of money and power. She, Natasha, and Steve quickly grabbed a few last minute items and prepared to join the fray. 

Finding out the Avengers considered her one of their heavy hitters was an initial shock she had taken a few minutes to get over and compartmentalize when Natasha filled them in on what was going on with Doom and how she could help. Sure, she’d run a couple training missions with them in the month she was at the tower. She’d gotten to observe Steve in a field setting to see how he employed his team members to their best abilities, taking note for when she would have that opportunity with her team someday. She hadn’t realized that she was being assessed at the same time. 

Having Tony request for her to help him take down Doom’s temporary base in Canada with her “tremors” was an interesting request. Tony followed with, “C’mon Cap, lend me your girl for 30 minutes, you can’t hog our heavy hitter all the time. They’re raining some serious fire power on me up here and I need that base’s defenses dismantled pronto!”

Running out of the quinjet, the Captain immediately starting issuing orders. “Widow, find the location of the Four, you and Clint release them and run back up. Sam and Tony, continue drawing fire and distracting, I’ll help down here and engage Doom. Skye,” with that he looked back at her, “Can you take down their defenses?”

Swallowing she took in the mission variables and the location of their defense mechanisms. “Give me ten, I’ll pull them down and knock you guys a couple holes in the wall to start with.” Natasha shot her a grin and took off for Clint’s location. Tony and Sam banked around the base, close to where they had emerged from the treeline surrounding Doom’s base. 

The Captain looked back at her, “I’ll watch your back, let’s move.” He hesitated a moment, and added, “Be safe, doll.”

“Gotcha, Cap.” With that they headed to a small overlook about ten yards from the nearest artillery. It was as close to being defensible as they were going to get, with a few rocks to protect them should they draw fire. The Captain took his shield off his back and used it to deflect any shots that got too close to comfort, while Skye kept the larger rounds at bay with her powers. Coming to the overlook and diving behind the rock, the Captain slid in behind her, and she took a few deep breaths to center herself. She turned to Cap, and shouted, “I’m going to take out the big guns first, but I’ll have to see them to do it.”

He nodded, “I’ll cover you.” She took one last breath and stood. Focusing herself, she aimed a blast at the closest gun. She felt her power surge through her, with the added effects of the bracers Tony and Bruce had given her. The effect shocked her for a beat, and this second of distraction almost cost her as Cap had to drag her down to avoid the newly gained attention from the enemy.

“Did you see that?” She breathed to him, where he had her pressed back against the rock.

“Yeah, Skye,” he grinned, “I did.” She looked at her hands and the bracers with wide eyes. The entire wall where the gun had sat had vibrated for a second and then completely fell to pieces, as if it was child’s play. The concentrated effect of her powers cutting through the wall like swiss cheese. She slowly returned his grin, then surged to her feet. She used one hand to block the incoming bullets and the other to aim three more blasts at the remaining artilleries on this side. Cap scrambled up beside her, Shield hanging limply from his arm as she decimated what remained. “Well that works,” he said.

Skye had a minute to observe her work as Iron man flew past again while jauntily saluting her in thanks, before a wave of dizziness overtook her. She let out a quite, “Woah,” as her world tilted, the corners of her vision blacking slightly. 

She felt Cap brace an arm along her lower back, sliding up to her shoulders as his other arm braced her under her knees when she started to crumple against her will. “Hey there, I got you,” he said against her hair as he settled her once again back against the rock. “You okay, Skye?”

“Yeah,” she replied, but to her it sounded as if she was speaking from under water, muted by the pounding in her head. She felt the familiar trickle of blood from her nose, and a second possible trickle from one of her ears. She had over done it, not used to the amplification of the untested bracers. While they were effective, they obviously would need some tinkering to find a happy medium where she wouldn’t zap all her energy in a few strikes. 

Cap was looking down at her in worry, and she bet if the helmet wasn’t on she would see that adorable furrow between his brows. The added combination of his beard peeking through the helmet didn’t help matters. This caused a giggle to escape, and he brought a hand up to cup her cheek. “I think you need to take a break, Skye,” he told her as he took in the blood on her face and the dazed look in her eyes. She saw him bring the comm in his glove to his face, “Skye’s temporarily out, Sam I need you to come check her out. Tony, scan the premise and find Doom; you and I will take him down. Natasha? Report.”

Skye wanted to protest that she could handle herself just fine, but shifting to sit up further against the rocks caused a wave of nausea to roll through her, and Cap had to help her lean over to empty the contents of her stomach. How embarrassing. As she straightened back up with his help, Natasha responded. “In route, the Four are in the Southwest corner of the basement, in specially made cells. I can have them out in less than ten minutes if Clint would get his butt in gear and take out these Doombots.” Clint did not deem the jibe worthy of a response, but she heard a small explosion in the background, which she knew came from one of his specialty arrows. 

She glanced back up at Cap, only to see him looking at his hand with a stern look on his face, and she saw blood from where he had held her hair back and must have brushed along her ear. Sure enough, his fingers quickly pushed her hair out of the way to see the stream of blood as Sam landed in the background. She could tell he was getting ready to lecture her, but Sam cut him off.

“Girl, I can’t thank you enough for taking out those guns, my ass was about to be grass.” He knelt down next to Cap and shouldered him out of the way. “Move it Cap, you got a date with Doom and I have a date with this pretty lady in the Quinjet.” A strange look passed over Cap, but she wasn’t able to fully take it in with Sam crowding her and checking her vitals. 

Cap stood, and comm’ed Tony. Once finished, he turned to watch Sam lift her and start back for the quinjet. “Keep me posted, Falcon,” Cap said before taking off to join Tony.

Things were fuzzy from then on, as Sam moving her caused her head to swim. She was thankful she had already puked, else she was afraid she would have ruined the Falcon’s uniform. Her last hazy thoughts before she succumbed to her exhaustion was that she wasn’t looking forward to the Captain’s “disappointed America” face she was sure she would get once she recovered.

-O-

Steve sighed. He had just lectured Tony and Bruce on the dangers of untested modifications, and how it had endangered Skye. He knew their hearts were in the right place, and that Skye would undoubtedly forgive them, but they needed a firm reminder that their combined geniousness could be dangerous. Dangerous enough, in fact, to put Skye in the infirmary over night. He grimaced as he made his way to her med bay room. 

He had already debriefed the team and Hill, the Fantastic Four had gone home to recuperate, and Doom had been dealt with. After Skye’s thorough dismantling of Doom’s base, the mission had wrapped up pretty quick. 

Exiting the elevator, he came around the corner to see her room. Through the glass, he could see Sam sitting by her side, and she laughed at something he said. Something burned through him quickly, the same feeling he had briefly felt on the field when Sam had flirted with her. Shaking his head, and telling himself he was silly, he knocked lightly and entered the room.

“Cap! Glad you could join us. Skye here won’t tell me any funny stories on you from your off the book mission, so I’ve been telling her the ones I already know,” Sam said and turned back to Skye. “You know he once pulled me into an epic hug, like, really epic, a hug only shared by lovers, when we were on the run trying to hide in public from some Hydra goons.” At this Steve groaned and hid behind his hands.

“Oh really?” Skye’s voice, though raspy, made him look back up from where he was trying to hide his blush.

“He did, and the Hydra goons didn’t buy it,” Sam laughed, “I asked him later what in the hell he was thinking, and he said Natasha told him public displays of affection make people uncomfortable.” At this Skye giggled. “I told him I was flattered but that he would need to up his game and really act like he meant it if he ever expected that to work again.”

Steve sunk further into the chair, feeling his ears heat up with his blush. “You’re just sad I didn’t cop a feel, Wilson,” he grumbled. Skye’s giggles changed to full out guffaws.

“Well ladies, I feel like my work here is done. Let me know if you get bored of this fossil, Skye, and I’ll come swing by to save you,” Sam said as he stood and stretched before leaving the room with a few quick goodbyes. Skye quieted down and he missed her laughter as it died. She turned to him, and he could tell she was expecting a lecture on safety from him.

And he wanted to tell her to be more careful, he really did. But he couldn’t find it in him to say that, not with that look on her face. He was sure she had already beat herself up over it, and Hill had been by earlier. Hill was good at telling you to not do something so damned stupid in as many words.

He took a different tactic instead, “So you haven’t told him any stories on me, huh?” She tilted her head at this, then shook it no with a confused furrow on her brow. “Well I ought to thank you then, doll, cause that man never lets me live it down.” At the use of his nickname for her, she relaxed and smiled. 

“I figured you liked to keep your life private, and any details about the mission to find Bucky private,” she said in response. Her consideration warmed him, and he nodded slightly. Most of his life was an open book, hell there were more books about him than his literal age of near 100. Privacy was commodity he relished in, and while the general public and those books knew the Captain, he wanted to keep Steve Rogers as private as he could. Not that Sam would ever sell him out, but the sentiment was nice.

“Thank you, Skye,” he said and took her hand. “How are you feeling?” His thumb gently ran over her knuckles and something settled in him that had rattled loose on the field when he had to leave her in Sam’s care. 

“Still tired, even after my epic six hour nap, and I had a hell of a headache until they gave me the good meds,” she said with a shrug, “But they want to keep me overnight for observation, I just hate hospitals, even this nice of one, after—“ at this she cut off and looked up at him before glancing back down. Her hand slipped from his and her hands moved to rest on her stomach. He knew there was a scar there, a rather nasty one in fact. He had wanted to ask, but had never pushed. 

When they were first debfiefed about her when Coulson had come to drop her off, they had learned that she had suffered a fatal wound that had in turn caused her to receive the same drug that brought Coulson back. This had all quickly been glossed over at the time. He had wondered upon seeing the scar for the first time when he had caught her changing once (and her curves had almost caused him to miss the patch of shiny skin), if this was the wound they were talking about.

Seeing her discomfort, he reached over and reclaimed her hand, resting it beside the one over he scar, “I don’t particularly like hospitals either, before I had the serum I had to be admitted a couple times when it looked real bad. We couldn’t really afford it, but my Ma and Buck wouldn’t let me go down without a fight.” He squeezed her hand.

Her lips creased in a small half smile. “Have you ever thought about how you are going to help him once you find him?” She asked, shifting to find a more comfortable spot. “You came out of the ice in different circumstances, he’s going to need a bigger anchor than SHIELD was for you.”

This caused him to pause in thought. Yes he had thought about what he would do, he would help him adjust, be there every step of the way. But he saw what she was asking. He had SHIELD and a greater purpose when he came out of the ice, and even that took a while to setlle into something to drive him. Bucky had lost all purpose, and as loathe as he was to admit it, he himself alone wouldn’t keep Bucky afloat. “I guess,” he started, “I guess I was hoping to be there fore him in every capacity.” This sounded weak even to him.

Skye squeezed his hand, and he looked into her tired eyes. “Have you thought about leading him by example,” she asked, “Establishing a life, as normal of a life as you can here, so that he knows how to form those relationships?” He shook his head, and brought her hand over to his lap, his other hand reaching up to trace her veins on the underside of her wrist. “I know you are commiteed to finding him, but you need to have a home to come back to. We’ve been out there for weeks,” she told him gently, “And your team has been back here without a leader.” Guilt surged through him; guilt for leaving his team and guilt at the thought of not wholly throwing himself into the search for Bucky. What could he do? There was no good answer.

“Hey,” she said, with a tug of her captured hand. He stilled his tracing and looked back to her. “You aren’t doing anything wrong. Don’t feel bad either way. I’m just trying to point out the long game.”

“We’re so close to finding him,” he said quietly, hoping she would understand. 

“And he may not be ready to come in,” she said just as quietly. “We cannot force him.” Her words hit him hard. He knew this; he just didn’t want to accept it. He considered what she had said.

“I’m not going to stop trying to find him,” he finally said after a few minutes of silence. “But I see what you are trying to say.” His fingers slowly resumed their tracing. “What if we cut back the search a bit, spent half our time back here and the other half on the road?”

She smiled at him and nodded. They made plans until Skye finally fell asleep again, too tired to be worried about her hate for hospitals.

-O-

Skye reviewed their plans in the common room of the Tower. She had just checked in with Coulson to see how project Caterpillar was coming along, and was pleased to hear that Fitz and Simmons were working on containment units that could handle InHuman influence. Lincoln was working on assessing the scattered InHumans from Afterlife to see if any would be interested in joining. She wasn’t needed back at SHIELD quite yet, and Coulson had said that things were calming down in her absence. 

“They miss you,” he had said at the end of their conversation. “I know things were tense when you left, but I think distance has allowed everyone to process what happened.” There was a pause before he continued, “Is it the same for you?”

“I’m not angry any more,” she replied. “I know why they each reacted like they did, and I understand it. And I’ve had time to process this change as well.” She let out a small huff, “I fell more confident in my body with these powers than I think I would have if I had stuck around, no offense AC.”

“None taken, just don’t over tax yourself and put yourself in the med bay again, Agent Skye,” he said in a stern voice. She rolled her eyes, not even bothering to be surprised he knew about her misadventure with the new bracers.

“Okay, Dad.” She said with a smile. “I’ll check in soon, tell everyone hi for me.”

Now she was plotting out her and Steve’s next moves after their discussion in the med bay. Tweaking what they had settled on the night before with a few modifications to better their mission planning.

They would spend two weeks on the road in the search for Bucky and any Hyrda bases, but return to the Tower or the newly completed Upstate Avengers facility, for the following two weeks. Steve had planned team building exercises and training missions around her tentatively planned absences to SHIELD. He had expressed an interest to see this new SHIELD, and Coulson had given the approval in this last call. So three to five of their days not on the road would be spent at SHIELD. 

She had strong-armed Steve into taking at least one day off in the two allotted weeks not searching for Bucky. She had told him to start building that life they had talked about. He needed to have something other than saving the world to add to his resume. She suggested he take some time to draw, go out with Sam, make some friends other than the Avengers in the Tower, see some sights around town, and basically do anything but be Captain America for a day, preferable two or three days. 

“Who is Steve Rogers in the twenty-first century?” She had asked him the night before, and the lost look he gave her made her want to hug him. “You need to figure out what makes you happy.”

He had laughed at that, and mentioned Sam had said something similar a couple of months ago, before all this chaos had started. She had decided right then and there that she would help him figure it out. She knew she was one to talk, SHIELD had become her life. And the horror of her metamorphosis had wrecked with little normality she had. 

She had hacking, she would always have hacking, but she realized how unhealthy this imbalance in her life was. She used to have balance with her team, with Fitz and Simmons and their movie marathons, Mack teaching her how to rebuild and care for cars, May’s non-lethal lessons in languages and tai chi, Bobbi and Hunter taking her out for nights on the town, and her and Coulson’s outings to museums and galleries when downtime permitted. 

She was determined to get that back, and help Steve find his way while she was at it.

A message from Tony to come test out the modified bracers interrupted her thoughts. She quickly sent Steve her reviewed plans for him to tweak as well and approve. She was excited to get down to the lab to see if Bruce and Tony had figured out a way to adjust the amplification without compromising her energy. She and Steve wouldn’t be leaving the Tower until next week and she wanted to get as much practice in as possible.

-O-

“You know, she’s right,” Sam said as they watched Natasha and Skye spar from the viewing platform overlooking the training room. It wasn’t an official training session, but Steve was interested to see the outcome. He and Sam had just finished a run and were cooling down and hydrating as they watched. He had told Sam of his and Skye’s conversation.

“I don’t know how to be normal, Sam,” he said as he wiped the sweat off his face. He watched Natasha try to take Skye down with her thighs alone, a move that had incapacitated many. Skye ducked and rolled avoiding that particular offensive strike as her own leg shot out and tripped Natasha in a quick sweep. Not to be outdone, Natasha flipped quickly back on her feet to strike again.

They both watched for a few beats more, before Sam spoke again, “You just have to find your normal, doesn’t have to be mine or any body else’s definition of normal. Heck I don’t think she’s even asking you to find normality, I think she’s just asking you to build something to come home to other than an empty apartment and mission debriefs. Friends, hobbies, distractions, anything to help you heal and cope with our crazy lives.” With that, Sam chugged the last of his water. “I think she’s good for you, she’s kept you relatively sane in this quest for Bucky, something I was failing at.” 

Steve considered Sam’s words. Thinking over his and Skye’s mission plans, he figured he could pencil in a few more down days, and maybe a few team outings that were non-work related. Skye was right, it was time he faced the future head on, instead of hiding behind missions. She’d never come out and say it that harshly, but that was the root of the issue. 

“It wasn’t your fault, Sam, I was being difficult and bull-headed,” he told the man beside him. They both winced as they watched Skye get thrown to the matt by Natasha with a resounding thud, the match ending. “I probably would have done the same to her if she hadn’t of caught me off guard with her questions.”

At this Sam sniggered, “Sure, Captain, she caught you off guard.” Sam turned and slapped him on the shoulder. “It has nothing to do with your crush on that woman, none at all.” Steve tried to respond nonchalantly to the accusation, but sadly all the resulted from the exchange was a blush and sputtering. “Don’t bother denying it, Natasha and I are already betting on you two. Don’t screw it up man.” Sam slapped him on the shoulder again before taking off for the showers.

Steve turned back see the two women stretching, Skye all graceful lines. Natasha caught his gaze, and his blush quickly returned with a vengeance. She smirked at him, and led Skye into a particular stretch that showcased a tricky bit of flexibility he really didn’t need to think about. Oh boy, he was in trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again for all the kudus and comments! I should get back into the once a week updates, hopefully. I'm posting this one early to make up for the month absence during the holidays.
> 
> I'm getting into the swing of writing again, something I haven't done in a while or ever really succeeded at. I have the next three chapters sketched out, and I think this thing will not have more than ten chapters total. I don't want to get into the Civil War time frame, because I want to see how it plays out in AOS and the movie. So there might be a sequel if inspiration strikes. I also have no idea how to write Bucky, so that is a big driver in avoiding that story line haha.


	6. In which there is a reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long break, I hit a bit of a block. Thank you for sticking with me! We're still on the slow SLOW burn track, but these two kids are starting to figure it out.

Last time: After almost six weeks on the road, Skye and Steve decide they need to balance their time more appropriately, and agree to spend a couple weeks back at their day jobs to every couple of weeks on the road. Skye tells Steve he needs to build a life to come home to, to help whenever they find Bucky. In turn, Steve starts to realize how much this young woman could grow to mean to him.

-o-

Skye nervously fidgets in the seat next to him on the Quinjet. Agents May and Morse had picked them up from Stark’s and were flying them out to the SHIELD base before he and Skye head out to follow up on some Hydra leads on Bucky she had managed to hack and find.

The greeting had been an awkward one to watch between the three agents. Skye’s descriptions of May had prepared him for a cool greeting from her front, but all the stories of Morse made it seem like their greeting would be warmer. Instead May had proceeded as business as usual, something Skye seemed to appreciate, but Morse had been tentative and stumbled through an aborted hug that ended in a shoulder pat. Skye had just braced the other agent’s shoulder back, and a pained little smile appeared on her face.

It was none of Steve’s business, he knew, but he felt like the worst kind of guy who just watched as his friends suffered. Skye had told him bits and pieces of her team’s reaction to her change. He was hoping the time she had spent away would lessen whatever ill-feelings, but maybe that was not the case.

Reaching over, he grabbed her hands, which were slowly trying to mangle eachother in her awkward fidgeting. He gave her a gentle squeeze and then asked her to go over again the parameters for their next couple of weeks on the road. If she could distract him when he got too far down the rabbit hole with Bucky, he sure as hell could help her not think about the impending reunion with her team.

-o-

Skye took her time grabbing her bag and weapons from the Quinjet, letting Steve, May and Bobbi go off first. May was quiet, sure, but it wasn’t the stand-off coolness she had gotten before May had taken off for parts unseen after the San Juan incident. It was a surprise to see her, a welcome one, and she appreciated her calm demeanor. 

Bobbi had just been rough. At first she thought Bobbi would hug her, but then a spark of something, fear or apprehension maybe, flashed in the other agent’s eye and the hug turned into a one-armed shoulder brace. Like they were Vikings or something. So odd. She rolled with it, bracing Bobbi’s other shoulder, but the interaction made her sink into thoughts of how the rest of the team would react. 

She had time to process what had happened to her, it was still a process and it would still take time, but she was doing better. Her time at with the Avengers had given her a purpose again, made her realize her worth. And Steve, Steve had been there for her every step of the way. As a quiet guide, a column of support, and a ready ear to listen. 

He understood change, to an extent. Her heart warmed and a blush creeped up her neck just thinking about all the ways he had helped her. After all the men in her life that had abandoned her, threatened her, betrayed her trust and manipulated her, she had given up hope of trusting someone like she trusted him. Coulson had become the father she never had, and she loved him dearly, but the man still kept secrets from her. She trusted him to do what was best for her (or the world if that was what it came to) but she knew he would still lie to her for their jobs. 

Shaking those thoughts from her head, and calming the tittering of her silly heart, she braced herself for what would come next. Walking down the ramp, she did not expect to see everyone, her family, gathered around with a little banner that said “Welcome home Skye.” Her silly heart proceeded to flip and skip a beat. She stopped on the ramp and just took in the sight.

Fitz and Simmons held the banner, and Simmon’s face held that bright nervous smile she got when she had done something big but wasn’t sure how it would play out. Mack had his arm thrown around Fitz and had that smirk that told her he was going to tease her about something soon. May had gone to stand with Coulson and they both had that small half smile they got when they thought no one was looking. And Bobbi and Hunter stood to the right of FitzSimmons with champagne and glasses. Hunter popped the bottle and proclaimed, “Our girl’s back, let’s celebrate!”

Apparently her heart couldn’t handle all that she was seeing, and a tear snuck out and rolled down her face. Steve had snuck up behind her, and grabbed her bag and nudged her forward. With a watery laugh, she quickly erased the evidence of any tears and quickly strode forward to envelop Simmons in a hug. At that point, Fitz stuttered out a “Group Hug!” and proceeded to wrap Simmons and Skye up with the rest of the banner, Mack’s laugh rumbled through them as he joined, and she could her Hunter mumbling about wanting in on the action. 

No one said anything if they saw a couple more tears leak out. 

-o-

Skye found Steve later, watching the sunset off the rooftop. She was a little tipsy from all the champagne and her heart was full. Everything wasn’t what it was before, but they didn’t hate her, and they missed her, and she felt like maybe time was all that they had needed. Bobbi had apologized, saying it wasn’t her that was the issue but Ward, and she knew now that she had taken her anger out on the wrong person. Hunter had chimed in saying the same. 

Mack had started to call her Tremors, and that was all she needed to know that while she may be part Alien, he was going to be okay with it. And Simmons had asked proactive questions about her powers, without a hint of xenophobia or apprehension that she had sensed before. Meanwhile, Steve had patiently put up with Coulson’s mild hero worship and May’s oogling of his biceps. Things were going to be all right, or maybe the champagne was telling her things were going to be alright. Regardless, she let out a happy little hum as she clambered up to sit next to Steve on the ledge.

“Whoah there doll, don’t tumble over the edge,” he joked, slipping an arm around her waist to steady here and then moving it up to her shoulders when she settled in. She remained quiet as they watched the sun slowly sink. Finally, when the sky started to bleed more blue than orange, she turned to him.

“I’m glad we came here, but I’m more glad that you were there for me today. Thank you,” she said quietly, and turned back to look at the stars starting to peek into the blue. Steve turned a confuse gaze back down to her.

“I’m not sure what I did, but you are welcome.” She just giggled at his response and shifted closer to take in some of his warmth. His heat seeped into her, and she let out another happy hum. She couldn’t see his fond smile aimed at the top of her head, that now rested on his shoulder. He continued, “I didn’t know drunk Skye was a giggler,” he teased.

“Oh, shush you,” she said with a swat of her hand.

-o-

After two days at SHIELD, Skye and Steve were prepping to head out on the road again. Steve had been in meetings with Coulson for the majority of the time, learning about the new SHIELD and talking about a tentative liason for missions through Skye’s contact with both teams. 

Skye had spent the time on the phone with Lincoln, who was still out testing the waters with InHumans, and helping FitzSimmons with specs on the containment cubes. If they could get them working, it would be a boon for stabilizing any erratic InHumans they came across. Or, if Simmon’s calculations on the dispersion of the crystals through the Ocean were right, any new InHumans that would awaken. Skye greatly hoped that the crystals would have too weak of an effect in the water to effect anyone. 

FitzSimmons had also given them some cool tech to test out on this next venture, and Coulson gave them some updated info on Hydra hideouts. Goodbyes already said, Skye was tucking her things into one of the sidebags on Steve’s bike as he checked the engine one last time. Footsteps coming up behind her made her turn around, and she spotted Jemma and Bobbi approaching with a small bag. 

“Come for one last hug?” Skye said jokingly, zipping up the sidebag and coming over. 

“Well I won’t turn one down, but we wanted to give you something before you headed out,” Jemma responded with a warm smile. 

Bobbi held out the bag, and leaned in for a hug before saying, “Open it!” Skye reached into the bag and pulled out a black leather jacket.

“Oh my god, guys, you didn’t have to do this!” Skye exclaimed, feeling the supple leather under her fingers, “But thank you so much!”

“Oh put it on, put it on! I want to see it,” Jemma said with a happy little clap. Skye followed suite and marveled at the fit. “I still had your measurements, and with Bobbi’s help, we designed this for you. It’s breathable for when it gets hotter, but the jacket is lined with a new polymer that is almost completely bullet proof. It should stop the majority of bullets, particularly hand guns, that come your way. It’s not fool-proof, as automatic rounds will likely still penetrate it, but I wanted you to be safe out there as you fight Hydra”

Skye quickly gathered them both up into a hug, and repeated her thank you’s over and over. “This is great, Mr. Serum over here seems to attract the crazy guys with guns,” Skye said when they extracted from each other’s limbs.

“Hey! I heard that,” Steve said indignantly, “You seem to attract them at the same rate, doll.” With that, he put away the wrench he had been using, and got on his bike. It started up with a smooth purr of the engine. “Ready when you are, doll.” He said, slipping his jacket on.

Bobbi and Jemma both raised an eyebrow at the use of “doll” and Skye blushed. “Shush, you” she muttered, and the two other women just shook their heads. 

“Didn’t say a thing, Skye. Safe travels,” Bobbi said with a small smile. Skye gave a jaunty wave and turned to hop on the back of the bike. The next time she called base, she was sure she was going to get teased.

-o-

They drove until late into the night, stopping only when necessary. They were close to one of Steve’s safe houses, and were going to take advantage of a non-(Creepy, dingy, dirty)motel night. Close being a relative term, as they had been on the road for 15 hours. They rolled up to his cabin, located somewhere in bumfuck Missouri, around 11pm. 

“Oh god, I think my legs are noodles,” Skye said as she slipped from the bike. Steve just laughed and grabbed the bags for them. She followed him up the steps to the quaint little hunting cabin. Steve had mentioned that this was one of the houses Nat had set up for him, and that he had never been. It was clean but sparse on the inside, just enough room for a bed, table, one cushy chair, and a kitchenette. “Looks like you are cuddling with me tonight, Rogers,” Skye teased. Sure enough, even with his back to her she could see the blush creeping up the back of his neck to ignite his ears in a lovely fire-engine red.

“You are never going to let me live that down, are you?” He said with a sigh, sitting their stuff on the table. 

“Nope!” She said, popping the “p” with probably a little too much enthusiasm. “Now outta my way, I call the shower!”

It wasn’t the first time they had shared a bed. The first time, they had been so tired and warn out from a Hyrda chase that ended in a brawl that they literally didn’t even make it under the covers (“Dammit, Rogers! You let me sleep on a nasty STD ridden comforter again, for shame!” “Not my problem, doll” “Jerk!”).

The second time, it was awkward. The hotel only had a room with a double bed, as everything else was booked for some fair that was in town. Steve had tried to take the floor, and Skye was having none of his self-sacrificing bullshit (“Get on the damn bed, Steve. I don’t bite” “Fine, doll, fine.” “I only nibble occasionally” “Skye, shut up” “Night, cap!” “Night, doll”). They had lain awake for way too long pretending to sleep, until finally they pretended so well they passed out. And that was when Skye discovered that Captain America was a cuddler. Well, at least Steve Rogers was a cuddler, she was pretty certain they left the Captain on the floor of the hotel when he gave up trying to be a gentleman.

She woke up to Steve octopus-ed around her. Like where did those arms come from and how can he wrap them around so much? And legs, this man had feet of limbs and they were all engaged in keeping her in place. Which is fine, we all had our weird sleeping habits (if given the space, she was a pro at starfishing across the entire bed, but years on the plane and year before that in a van kept a tight lid on that habit). But she needed to pee, and he was wrapped around her like a snake. A pretty snake, but a snake none-the-less. 

“Steve,” she said gently, “Come on Steve, wake up, I need to get out of bed.” His response was to mumble and burrow his head further into the back of her neck. Sighing, she brought a hand up out of the covers to poke at his (very firm, very nice) abs. “Steve, wakey wakey, please let your bedmate go so she can visit the loo.” 

That got a response, and he froze, muscles clenching, as he came to. “Good morning, sunshine. Would you mind letting me go so I can use the restroom pretty please?” She could literally feel the heat of his blush as he scrambled to let her go. 

“Sorry, sorry, so sorry” he stuttered out, but she could care less, mind on getting to the bathroom. When she came out, he was already dressed and packing their things. 

She sidled up to him, poking him with her elbow as she packed up her things beside him, “So you like to snuggle, huh?”

As predicted, he blushed again. “Sorry for that, I should have taken the floor,” he said, shoving a shirt none-too-gently into his bag. 

“Dude, no big deal. You didn’t do anything wrong. You can’t really control what your body does at night,” she said, hip checking him, trying to lighten the mood. 

“I guess you are right. The Comandos used to give me shit for it. We’d all have to bunk in close quarters, and I maybe, sorta, occasionally would wake to find a friend slapping me awake if they got too close in range and I managed to latch on over night. But they didn’t complain too much when it got cold in France and then my serum-amped heat made me the best bunk mate.” He had finished packing and was sitting on the bed smiling. 

“You’ve seen me take up an entire bed like a starfish if I’m tired enough. Now if I wake up next time and you are drooling on me, we will no longer be friends,” Skye said, grabbing her bag and heading for the door.

“Yes, ma’am!”

They had shared beds occasionally since then, if there was no other option, and Skye would always wake wrapped in his arms. She’d never say it, but it was nice. Miles never stuck around long enough when he came over to actually sleep with her, beyond the hour or two of physical affection they would partake in. She didn’t really have any boyfriends before him, and things never got that far with Ward.

There was a level of comfort in his arms she hadn’t experienced before. She felt safe, and whenever she woke before him on the nights they had to bunk together, she would take her time waking him. Soaking in a few minutes of comfort and touch that she hadn’t had before. She felt guilty doing it, he didn’t do it on purpose and she felt like she was taking advantage of him in some way. But it didn’t stop her, and she ignored the way her heart would warm when it happened.

As she washed the conditioner from her hair, she wondered if she would wake first again this time. Stepping out of the shower, she quickly threw on her PJs for bed and vacated the bathroom so he could wash up. 

Steve grumbled about not having hot water as he passed her, and she swatted his shoulder for good measure. As he washed up, she took out the jar of henna paste. By the time he got out of the bathroom she had managed to start a mandala/flower doodle on her inner elbow and was working outwards with the design.

“Looking good there, doll, need any help?” he said, as he rifled through his bag, looking for his toothbrush. 

“Yes please! I think I’ve reached the end of my capabilities,” she said, showing him the picture on her phone she was basing it off. Once Steve returned from brushing his teeth, he sat cross-legged on the bed next to her, and took over the drawing. It tickled a bit, and he had to tell her to hold still. Skye continued to work on some coding with her other hand and soon forgot Steve was even drawing on her.

Twenty minutes later, he nudged her to get her attention, “All done, what do you think?” 

“Holy crap, Steve, this is great! We gotta do you now!” She helped him lookup what he wanted to draw on her computer, only teasing him a little saying he should draw an anchor and a pinup girl (“I’m no damn sailor, doll”), and within thirty minutes he had drawn the basics of a sleeve on his left arm. “You are crazy talented, Steve. If your day job as a Superhero falls through, you could always do tattoos.”

“I’ll keep it in mind, doll.” He said, clearly amused. “How long do we have to wait before we can sleep, I’m beat!”

“I looked up a site, says we can sleep in it and wash the paste off tomorrow,” Skye said, clearing the henna paste and her laptop off the bed, and dragging the covers down. “Come on, snuggle bear, get your butt under the covers so we can get some shut eye.” 

“So demanding,” he sighed jokingly, but did as she asked. 

And while Skye did not wake up early enough to catch Steve in the act of cuddling, Steve, once awake, may or may not have taken a few minutes to enjoy holding this incredible dame in his arms thinking it would be nice to wake like that more often.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea what their fake tattoos look like, feel free to post your thoughts! Also, I've never used Henna, so I have no idea if I got that right. Basically I have no idea!
> 
> If you'd like to see something happen in their travels, let me know. I might be able to work it in! I've got some ideas baked out about having Sam join for a bit, talks about Skye's family, maybe Steve needing his booboos cared for after a tussle with hydra? Any other ideas?

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Haven't written anything in forever, and I wasn't much good to begin with, but I've fallen in love with this pairing. I've tried a few versions of this story, and I still don't like what I ended up with, but it is what it is. If anyone wants to beta read this story before it goes out, I'd be eternally grateful!
> 
> Will add tags when I finally think of them. As it is I could hardly come up with a title!
> 
> Title from Alexi Murdoch's "All of my Days"


End file.
